Running Laps Around The Track
by Takei Hisa
Summary: "Hey, your opinion matters the most to me." -Kiyoshi Teppei Oneshot


I awkwardly fumble around with the spanner, making a futile attempt to fix the broken control panel unit of the computer I had broken at least over an hour ago. However, I had only succeeded in making dark puffs of smoke drift into the atmosphere, polluting it. I stared at my two tar-like palms, before sighing in utterly blunt contempt for myself at not being able to do anything right. A large pair of calloused hands—much larger than mine—suddenly creeps up from behind and takes hold of the glinting spanner, guiding my lost hands as to how to fix the wrecked piece of garbage I had created.

"Hello, Teppei." I mutter glumly, acknowledging his tall, towering presence. "How did you know it was me?" he asked, extricating his arms from mine and continuing with trying to salvage what would be considered the remains of a deceased computer. I darkly chuckled, "Are you serious? No one helps out like you do when I get myself into a fix, and those hands…they're recognizable." I mumbled lowly, averting his sharp gaze. I wiped my hands with sheets of wet tissue provided by Teppei, getting rid of the tacky dark stains. He was amused, as usual by my extremely negative outlook on life. He twists the spanner vigorously a few more times, and I heard the sputter of the computer's unit roar back to life. An itsy-bitsy part of me could not resist smiling wryly, since it was the only good thing that happened to me today.

He flicks me two one-dollar coins, and they shone in the ray of afternoon sun as they landed neatly upon my outstretched palm. "I could use a cold drink. Get one for yourself too." He stated calmly, though it seemed as if there was more to that statement than just 'getting a drink.' I nodded monotonously and stalked off in the direction of the vending machine which was rooted to the floor in the corner of the spacious, empty canteen which would usually be bursting with vigorous chit chat ranging from the latest wear to the type of songs that were in trend. I hastily popped the coins into the vending machine, hearing them clink when they fell into the dark abyss of other coins which had faced the similar fate of being dropped into the complete absence of light until the grubby hands of the drink store lady would unlock the miniature door to attain the meagre extra pay for her monthly rent. I pressed the glowing green button which signified a refreshing bottle of Pocari. I just assumed that Teppei would drink it since the entire basketball team drank that very often.

Speaking of which, I never knew why Teppei bothered to associate himself with the likes of me. I never did initiate much—to be specific—any conversations with him during classes, and I never really gave a hoot about him or his thoughts. I was just the unnoticeable klutz that never did many—or rather—all things right except for schoolwork. I did not know anything about Teppei too, except for the fact that he would always rescue me whenever I had caught myself in a bad state. I heard the loud thud of the bottle coming into contact with the base of the machine. I knelt down and brought the bottle out, feeling the coolness of the glistening condensed droplets of water in contrast to my warm palm. Suddenly, memories flooded my mind. The first time he was there for me—which was the first time we had ever communicated—was when I had forgotten to bring my literature textbook for class. I had started panicking wildly, for this was the third time consecutively that I had forgotten. Upon noticing it, he secretly slid me his book and blatantly lied to the teacher that he had completely forgotten that there had been classes that day. Apparently, as a 'deserved' punishment, he had to do a hundred laps around the track after class. I felt insurmountable guilt consume me, and because I was the upright, simply straightforward person who obviously had serious problems with expressing how she felt towards situations like these, I only bought him a bottle of Pocari as my way of compensation.

It had been lame and pathetic, but I did not know of any other way to express my utmost guilt and gratification to him. I stood up and sauntered back to the lab, where he was probably struggling with the dump of rubbish I had made possible. I was pretty sure that I had been building sandcastles in the air while strolling, for I rudely bumped into a girl. She had light coloured—probably bleached—curly hair which looked fluffy and soft. She also had pale, sky blue eyes and a button nose. Freckles dusted her tanned, smooth complexion. Petite and adorable, she would be considered any boy's dream girl. "Oops! I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed, before bowing and dashing off, her face looking just a tad flushed. I opened the door to the lab, thrusting the bottle out to him along with the change. I plopped right next to him, half-admiring how he could fix such gunk and half-spacing out, into my own little world. It was only then that I realized that while he gulped down the drink, his face was plastered with an expression of what seemed like worry and thoughtfulness. I poked him viciously in the rib, crashing his train of thought. "What happened?" I asked, staring right into his dark orbs, scrutinizing, searching for some answers within them. He let out a breath he had been holding in for quite some time, letting his shoulders relax from their original tense position.

"She asked me out." He grumbled, running a rough hand through his honey-coloured hair. "Some second year girl with light curly hair and blue eyes," he continued. My mind flashed back instantaneously to the pretty, cute girl I had bumped into merely minutes ago. What he asked next threw me off. "Should I say yes?" Now it was his turn to stare at me, piercing right through my soul with that observing gaze of his. I directed my focus to the floor, suddenly realizing how interesting it seemed. "It's not my business as to who you date." I uttered dully, lying to myself. He drew closer, and I could catch a whiff of his minty breath. "But I'm asking you. Your opinion matters."

He was like the predator, and I was the tiny prey. I instinctively moved backwards, only to have my back hit the cold, hard, faux wall of the lab. I stumbled over my words incoherently, unable to string even a proper sentence. He smirked, almost victoriously as his breath fanned over me dangerously. "You like me." He grinned, close to my ear. I felt my face burn in total embarrassment as I tried to break free from his constricting grip, my ear tips bright red, signalling my apparent answer. All of a sudden, the atmosphere grew dead serious. He had me pinned tight to the wall; his head slumped on my shoulder. He glanced up at my bright-red face which would put Rudolph's nose to shame, before shooting a relieved smile in my direction.

"I've been waiting way too long for you to admit that." I diverted my gaze somewhere else—anywhere else would do—just not his face! He brought his lips millimetres away from my ear, his cool breath against it as he endearingly whispered, "Say my name." I involuntarily mumble it. "Teppei." He softly laughs to himself, thus only making the evident blush scattered across my face intensify. "My first name."

He had emphasized on 'name'. I started trembling. This was the very first time he had ever called me by my name. My first name at that. I shut my eyes tightly, mustered all my courage and forced it out from my clamped lips. "K-K-Kiyoshi." It barely came out as a slight whisper, but he grinned in pure ecstasy. He gently pressed his chapped lips to my warm forehead, the coolness of them varying greatly with the warmth of my blush. Waves of unidentified emotions rattled through me madly, making me shudder and quiver like a stupid middle school girl. "To think I've been sputtering a whole load of crap for the past three years for this." He murmured, leaning his forehead against mine, our breaths condensing mid-air, mingling with one another. I froze in realization. "I guess I was not the only one caught up in this game of two" I quietly commented, beaming inwardly.

"I guess you weren't"


End file.
